Pelle Politibil
(Pelle The Police Car in English, pronounced "Pe-la Po-la-ti-beel") is a character in and the main protagonist of the 1993-1997 Norwegian children's TV series Pelle Politibil, the 2002 movie of the same name, and 2 later CGI movies released internationally in 2009 and 2013. He is currently on display at the Bodø Police Station in Bodø, County Of Nordland, District of Salten, Norway. Pelle was created by a Norwegian police officer named Åge Magnussen and was the star of an NRK radio show in 1986 before getting his own live-action TV series in 1993 and then 3 movies in 2002, 2009, and 2013, the latter 2 CGI. Åge Magnussen also plays Pelle's officer, Rikhard, in the TV Series. Pelle is voiced by Lars Andreas Larssen, who also narrates. Appearance Pelle is a 1973 Volkswagen Beetle who works for the Norwegian Police Service. His body is mostly black with his fenders being white. He has his name written on his hood and trunk lid along with the word "POLITI" (Norwegian for "police") on his doors. His irises are simple blue circles, although in Seasons 1 and 2 his headlights are covered with white tape to simulate his scleras. This is removed in Season 3 however, and his irises are more detailed along with gaining black pupils. Pelle sports a blue rotating beacon on his roof and a siren speaker on his trunk lid where the Volkswagen logo would be. In the TV series Pelle has a white curve to represent a smile on his trunk lid, it is missing in the 2002 movie however since Pelle's bumper acts as his mouth. Sometime between the 2002 movie and today the Norwegian Police Service changed Pelle's appearance quite a bit, removing his eye stickers, giving him different rims, replacing his siren speaker with a car alarm and replacing his custom "PELLE" plates with ones that have his actual registration number on them. He still has his original radio and beacon from the show and 2002 movie, though his beacon now seems to rotate slower. He has also been given an actual voice in the form of a trunk-mounted speaker and sound system. Behavior Pelle is generally friendly, though sometimes he is shown to be greedy and demanding. Appearances Pelle Politibil (TV Series) Pelle appears in every single episode of the TV series as he is the main character Season 1 Episode 1 This episode explains what happened to Pelle before the rest of the series happened. He was the only VW Beetle the Norwegian Police Service had, and as a result of his small size he was often teased by the officers at the Bodø Police Station, calling him "Little Pelle". The officers wanted to get rid of him thinking of Pelle as useless due to being so small but the police master decided he would instead find someone to drive Pelle. He put an ad in the local paper, and soon enough a fellow by the name of Rikhard showed up to answer the ad. He took an immediate liking to Pelle, even calling the other officers out for mocking Pelle, saying that he was as good as the other police vehicles at the station if not cooler. Rikhard takes Pelle out for a drive along the country roads of Bodø, where upon Pelle running out of gas he learns that Pelle is sentient. After filling him up with a can of petrol from Pelle's trunk they proceed on their way, where Pelle tells Rikhard the story of his life. Eventually Pelle gets so sad from telling his story that he begins to cry. Rikhard pulls over and wipes Pelle's headlights clean of tears, after which they head back to the police station as it is the end of their shift. Season 1 Episode 2 The episode starts with Pelle and Rikhard being involved in a fairly low-speed police chase after a yellow Opel, only for Rikhard to wake up and realize it was all a dream. Pelle however is woken up by his own siren and is glad that Rikhard wasn't around to see it. Rikhard thinks the same about the dream he had. After a while Pelle finally sees Rikhard walking down the street towards him. He is told by Rikhard that they are going to visit a kindergarten that day. Pelle at first thinks it's a garden where kids are grown, but Rikhard explains that it's simply a type of school. Pelle is so anxious to get there that he almost leaves without Rikhard. Pelle even requests to go faster than the speed limit, but Rikhard reminds him that even police vehicles have to obey it. He also tells Pelle they have other things to do that day besides visit the kindergarten, but Pelle wants to right away. After a brief visit with Lars, Lure and Lange-Leif Pelle and Rikhard arrive at the kindergarten, where a group of schoolchildren are there to meet them. Rikhard tells Pelle to wait outside while he goes in and gives the children a lesson in traffic safety. Pelle reluctantly agrees. After a while Rikhard and the children come out, where Pelle is still parked. Lars and Lure then arrive and sing a song for the kids about traffic and cycling safety, with Lange-Leif, Rikhard and the kids dancing to it. After everyone has juice and bread buns Rikhard offers to let the children look inside Pelle. He also demonstrates Pelle's siren and light, after which Rikhard, Pelle and the children play a game in which Rikhard's a thief and the children must catch him and put him in Pelle, who's acting as the jail. Afterwards Pelle and Rikhard leave and presumably return to patrol duty. Season 1 Episode 3 This episode begins with Pelle and Rikhard driving around the city, having just left the kindergarten from the previous episode, when Pelle feels hungry and Rikhard realizes that Pelle's tank must be getting empty. He stops at a Statoil station to fill Pelle's tank up again with petrol, but unknowingly fills it with diesel instead. After Pelle complains about the taste of the fuel in his tank, they leave the station with Pelle's exhaust letting out white smoke. Eventually Pelle breaks down and apparently passes out, as Rikhard is unable to get any response out of him. Thankfully Janne and Sally Sykebil happened to be passing by, who tow Pelle to the nearest garage. Pelle's tank is drained and then filled with just enough petrol to make it to a petrol station. As Rikhard drives Pelle out of the garage he apologizes for filling his tank with diesel, but Pelle asks him to stop talking about diesel, saying it makes him nauseous. Once Rikhard parks Pelle next to Sally and walks back inside the garage Sally starts talking to him. Pelle responds and soon the two of them are chatting away, Pelle mostly asking about Sally's name, thanking her for towing him to the garage, and asking what it's like to be an ambulance. Just then Rikhard and Janne come out talking to one another as well. Richard accidentally reveals that Pelle can speak and asks Janne to keep it a secret. She agrees. Sally whispers to Pelle that she thinks Rikhard and Janne are beloved. Pelle wonders what that means and asks Rikhard about it as they are leaving the garage, he explains that it's when two people love each other. After getting Pelle filled up at the petrol station around the corner, Rikhard drives Pelle home. Pelle worries about the dark street and asks Rikhard if he'll leave his bedroom window open and the light on so they can talk. Rikhard agrees and even says that he'll tie Pelle to his bed with a rope. The episode ends with Pelle saying goodnight to Rikhard, Rikhard does the same for him. Season 1 Episode 4 The episode starts with Pelle sleeping on the sidewalk during the night. Tasse sneaks his way around a nearby wall only to spot Pelle and hide, fearing that he might be seen and arrested. Eventually he comes to the conclusion that Pelle has been parked for the night and then gets the idea to steal him. Tasse tiptoes over to Pelle, gets in him, and starts his engine. Pelle mumbles in his sleep that he wants to keep sleeping, though eventually he wakes up and yells for help from Rikhard. Tasse succeeds in stealing Pelle, though he wakes up Rikhard when the rope connected to Pelle jerks tight, (and eventually snaps) pulling Rikhard's bed away from the wall and throwing him out of it. After exclaiming "Pelle" in sadness, Rikhard calls the police station to notify them of Pelle being stolen. Lange-Leif immediately puts out a full alarm and a number of vehicles at the station are dispatched. Meanwhile Janne and Sally have also heard of the theft and are heading out to look for Pelle along with the Norwegian Police Service. By this time Rikhard has gotten dressed and is also on the search for Pelle. As he runs along the streets, he sees Janne and Sally driving toward him and runs in front of them to get them to stop. He explains to Janne that Pelle has been stolen, she offers him a ride to go look for him. Meanwhile, Tasse is driving Pelle along a dark road, with Pelle wondering if he'll ever see Rikhard again. Sally then remembers she has the same radio as Pelle and can use it to call Pelle and ask him where he is, which Rikhard also uses to give advice on how to stop Tasse to Pelle. Tasse continues driving Pelle at high speed along the same dark country road, eventually pulling off into a field and being forced to stop when Pelle's engine seemingly dies. Tasse gets out, shivers in slight fear at the darkness around him, and then tries to get Pelle's engine going again so he can continue to drive. When Tasse reaches his hands into Pelle's engine compartment, Pelle traps him by closing his hood. Soon enough Rikhard, Janne and Sally arrive, with Rikhard very happy to be reunited with Pelle again. He and Pelle then take Tasse into custody and, escorted by Janne and Sally back to town, drop Tasse off at the police station. During the trip back to town Sally offers Pelle a chance to sleep in her garage that night and Eeny-Meeny-Miny-Moes to determine who sleeps innermost, with Pelle being picked. The last time Pelle is seen in the episode is when he's sleeping with Sally in her garage. Season 1 Episode 5 Pelle first appears in this episode in Sally's garage with her, where she and him slept in the previous episode. Sally eventually manages to rouse Pelle from his slumber, when they are greeted by Rikhard and Janne. After cleaning Pelle up a bit, (with Janne cleaning Sally a bit as well) Rikhard tells Pelle that they must go out and look for the mayor's horse and rooster that have disappeared. At first Pelle is scared, but Rikhard tries his best to reassure him that the horse means no harm. Pelle ultimately accepts when Sally wants to go with them too. On their way to work Sally asks Pelle if he'd like to bet that she'll find the horse first, but Pelle disagrees, claiming that he'll find the horse first by using his high-beams. Eventually Pelle and Rikhard part ways with Janne and Sally. One of Pelle and Rikhard's stops is at an old abandoned barn, after searching for the horse and rooster elsewhere with no luck. As Pelle waits outside, Rikhard climbs the ramp leading to the barn to investigate inside. As soon as he gets to the top and looks in Rikhard comes running down the ramp yelling "The horse is inside the barn!", Pelle laughs and said that he thought Rikhard wasn't afraid of horses but now he was running as if 10 mad horses are coming after him. Rikhard immediately gets on the radio and puts in a call to Janne and Sally, who arrive only seconds later. Rikhard and Janne try to formulate a plan to get the horse down from inside the barn, Pelle is the one to suggest however that he should go in and try to get the horse to come out. After a bit of hesitation, Rikhard agrees with Pelle. He drives Pelle up the ramp, parks him, and then runs down the ramp to wait for Pelle to tell them what he sees. While inside the barn Pelle not only spots the horse eating hay, but also the missing rooster. After the horse comes up to him and licks Pelle, (causing him to laugh profusely) Janne gets a rope from Sally and gives it to Rikhard who walks up the ramp to Pelle, ties one end of the rope to the horse and the other end to Pelle's rear bumper. Pelle and Rikhard then lead the horse on the rope down the ramp slowly as Janne and Sally watch. Rikhard and Janne then go and get the rooster using Sally's stretcher. Rikhard then gets back in Pelle, and together they lead the horse through town all the way to the mayor's house. Janne and Sally arrive soon after, and the mayor is very happy to have both of her prized animals back. As a show of gratitude the mayor invites them all to a party celebrating the opening of a new sports hall later that day. Pelle and Rikhard drive back to the police station, where the police master is waiting to present Pelle with his very own bowtie. At the party the mayor makes a speech about how Pelle and Sally helped find her missing animals and that the day could have been a sad one for her had it not been for them. Pelle and Sally are declared the heroes of the day. As Lars and Lure sing a song to the assembled crowd, Pelle joins in by flashing his light and sounding his siren. (though it sounds different compared to all the other times he activates it) The last time Pelle is seen in the episode is when he and Sally say goodnight to Rikhard and Janne and then promptly go to sleep. Season 2 Episode 1 Season 2 Episode 2 Season 2 Episode 3 Season 2 Episode 4 Season 2 Episode 5 Season 3 Episode 1 Season 3 Episode 2 Season 3 Episode 3 Season 3 Episode 4 Season 3 Episode 5 Pelle Politibil (2002 Movie) Pelle appears as the main character in this film. Pelle Politibil går i vannet (2009 movie, American title Ploddy The Police Car Makes a Splash, or simply Police Patrol) Pelle appears as the main character in this film. Pelle Politibil på sporet (2013 movie, American title Ploddy The Police Car On The Case or Bold Eagles) Pelle appears as the main character in this film. Trivia *Pelle has a standard European hi-lo siren, unlike Sally who has a wail-yelp siren more characteristic of an American emergency vehicle. Pelle uses his siren in almost every episode. The only exceptions would be Season 3 Episodes 4 and 5. *Pelle and the narrator are both voiced by Lars Andreas Larssen *Pelle like Sally has license plates bearing his name. *Pelle's eyes at first didn't move very much, but as the series went on his eyes were animated more often. His mouth however has only been seen moving once, in Season 1 Episode 3. *In the two later CGI movies Pelle was first renamed Ploddy and then Radar in the English dubs, even though he kept his original Norwegian name of Pelle in the Norwegian versions. Gallery Season 1 Episode 3 File:Statoil_station_interior_(S1E3).png|Pelle and Rikhard at a Statoil petrol station as seen from the interior File:Richard_filling_Pelle_up_with_gas_(S1E3).png|Pelle getting his petrol tank filled up by Rikhard at a Statoil petrol station. File:Sally_Season_1_(7).jpg|Pelle and Sally getting some repairs done. File:Sally_Season_1_(8).jpg|Pelle meeting Sally for the first time outside the garage. Season 1 Episode 5 File:Sally_Season_1_(15).jpg|Pelle and Sally inside Sally's garage after attending a festival. Season 3 Episode 2 File:Sally_Season_3_(5).jpg|Pelle with Sally and Janne in Season 3 Episode 2 Season 3 Episode 5 File:Statoil_station_car_wash_(S3E5).png|Pelle about to have a wash in a Statoil station's car wash ("vask" means "wash" in Norwegian) File:Sally_Season_3_(17).jpg|Pelle with Sally in their garage in the final scene in the series. Misc File:Pelle_in_front_of_Bodø_Police_Station.jpg|Pelle parked in front of the Bodø Police Station, circa 2016 File:Pelle_book.png|Pelle as he appears in the books File:Rikhard_and_Pelle_2012_show.png|Pelle with Åge Magnussen as Rikhard in a 2012 show celebrating Pelle's 25th birthday since being created as a character. Note Pelle's license plate font being Bauhaus 93 rather than Balloon. Category:Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Main Characters Category:Protagonists